TDCJ Faces Ongoing Staffing Challenges
Duane Stuart, who has been employed by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for 22 years, says conditions for workers in prisons are only getting worse. The only thing keeping him in his job as a correctional officer is his desire for the retirement benefits that he will be eligible for after 30 years of employment.
Stuart added that his peers have been voicing concerns that some of the units are becoming increasingly unsafe, especially as staffing numbers shrink and employees are being forced to work overtime.
Several TDCJ facilities built in rural areas have had particular difficulty in attracting ...
Comments (6)
Luisa Inez Newton via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Texas: where life is cheap and young lives are disposable, unless they're fetuses.
Alice Mechler
I left TDCJ's employ in 1997, for many of the reasons above. Dealing with inmates (or offenders or whatever they are called today) is one thing...dealing with coworkers is another! Some staffers are concerned humans, while others are on a power trip, give 'em a stripe and they go hog wild! Unfortunately, the latter makes life harder for the concerned humans!
David Whitten
(The following is based on my personal opinion & experiences in Texas prison)
I entered the Texas prison system in 1987. Since then, I have weathered many storms: a) Ruiz & special masters oversight; b) the rude awakening of having UTMB-CMC, a profit-driven entity, enter the picture for an eventual downward spiral of standards, ethics & acceptable medical/psychiatric practices; b) the aftermath of Ruiz when UTMB-CMC was cleared of oversight while TDCJ-ID wrestled with Ruiz issues within Administrative Segregation leading to a further strained relationship between said agencies; c) the selective enforcement of contraband items in the aftermath of the Death Row cell phone fiasco (for instance, Rick Perry & his entourage were not subjected to search during the dedication of the Crain Unit in Gatesville, Texas); the continued reduction of officers & key medical/psychiatric personnel due to budget cuts.
During my time in stir, I watched many feeble efforts fail despite the skewed statistics presented to the public by those in charge. First, we had the Therapeutic Community where inept counselors stomped into sensitive areas of the human psyche like someone emulating Russian soldiers on parade. I also watched in horror as George W. Christ sang "Amazing Grace" beside an offender dressed in white for a cheesy photo op for Houston news crews during the opening of the Jester II faith-based initiative. Many years later, a Seminary was established for budding psychopaths to share the word of God with naïve citizens in the free world. Oh, & let's not forget the Boot Camps & SOTP. Yeah, these programs worked very well, indeed.
For example, one SOTP counselor was viciously murdered in Brazoria county after her Sgt. spouse learned of her inappropriate sexual relationship with a sex offender she was treating.
I could write a book on what I've seen & heard. In fact, I might just do that. Would anyone believe me? I seriously doubt it.
The explosion of prison construction began in the southern region. I remember watching the news in Houston when Johnny Klevenhagen, the sheriff who accompanied Geraldo Rivera on a drug raid into a Houston dwelling where no drugs were found, would contact news crews to video hundreds of offenders leaving custody en masse to the streets of Houston due to Harris County jail overcrowding.
Yes, the public was played by this master of manipulation. I might add that this situation was manufactured by the late sheriff. Instead of trickling offenders into the community, he staged a media circus. Hence, the public was up in arms about offenders running amok. Afterward, Ann Richards began a massive prison construction project. Rural communities begged for prisons to be built. Some towns got what they wanted. Did it help them out? You be the judge. Some are sitting empty.
Overall, I'm not impressed with Whitemire, the TDCJ-ID prison board, or the GOP legislative majority in Austin. In my opinion, the game of politics prevails. As citizens, we are being played.
So, I am not surprised by the latest incompetent behavior of those in charge. We had to mop up the mess made by a private prison in Travis County. Still, the mantra of “privatization” echoes in the halls of the Texas legislature. When will these buffoons be replaced with educated & informed experts in the field of adult corrections?
God help the officers & medical personnel left behind. The budget cuts are continuing as we speak. Private prisons don't work for violent offenders. For example, two violent offenders escaped one such facility in Arizona and killed innocent people. Nice job!
Texas, you need to pull your head out of your sphincter & do something useful for a
David Whitten
change (added at end).
Lance Lowry via Texas Tribune on Facebook
The Texas prisons are dangerously understaffed. TDCJ may face a new round of Federal court ordered oversights if conditions don't change. Last time the fed's took over it cost Texas billions!!!! The Texas Legislature and the Governor's Office need to properly fund TDCJ. Wasting taxpayers money to stand up to the Federal Counts again would be a big mistake. Texas will pay the price one way or the other.
Sam Draver
Re: TDCJ STAFFING CHALLENGES
Why has no one raised the issue of the foreign, as in Nigerians / Africans, that are being brought in to work for TDCJ?? You can find them in large numbers on many of the lower units in the Angleton area (These guys can barely read and write, muchless speak english).
AND, then add in the fact that TDCJ Employees are among the lowest paid of all the states, I believe they rank 48th??!! While on the other extreme, Rick Perry's buddy, Brad Livingston and now Stewart Jenkins were, and I assume still are, the highest paid prison directors in the country!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!???????????????
With the lowest pay scale in the country, is it any wonder that all too many many TDCJ employees are in reality little better in character and morals / quality than the worst of the offenders they are charged with keeping?? BOTTOM LINE -- you get what you pay for.